The Copybook

Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.

1189

© UtDicitur, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.

A Pledge to the People Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke pleaded with Parliament to emerge from behind closed doors and reconnect with the British public.

Read

1190

© Jean Housen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

The United States of the Ionian Islands Clay Lane

The British liberated the Ionian islands from Napoleon, then gave them fifty happy years and the game of cricket.

Read

1191

Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

The Battle of the Standard Clay Lane

Scottish King David I hoped to exploit the unpopularity of the Normans by trading on his own English heritage.

Read

1192

From the Imperial War Museums, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.

Captain Charles Fryatt Clay Lane

A civilian ferry captain was court-martialled by the Germans for thumbing his nose at their U-Boats.

Read

1193

© Geni, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Rainhill Trials Clay Lane

To prove that steam power was the future of railways, George Stephenson held a truly historic competition.

Read

1194

© Philipp Reiner, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Collateral Damage John Buchan

Richard Hannay reflects on the innocent lives lost, when the lust for power or the desire for revenge makes us less than human.

Read